


Fate/Grand Order: Awakening

by cheyshire



Category: Fate/Grand Order
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:41:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21668392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheyshire/pseuds/cheyshire
Summary: A non canon telling of what goes on after the main story ends(Solomon). Has spoilers for the first 8 singularities, may include spoilers for later singularities, that is to be determined at a later date.This follows the other Masters at Chaldea, the ones who woke up at least. There will be fan made singularities and Servants within, as well as many OCs.





	1. Prologue

A broken Mashu and Fujimara sat together in the hallway they had first met in, staring out the in ever snowing scenery.

Romani...

No, that was still a wound too fresh to think about. Even if it was months ago, both still missed him deeply, and even though the good news of rayshifting being back online with essentially unlimited access wasn't enough to truly have them cheer up.

They both wished they could do more. 

Their intertwined hands were the only comfort they had, and they seemed to speak without saying anything.

"Fujimara! Mashu!" It was Da Vinci, as she was the only one who knew where they usually vanished off to. They turned to look at her, and she seemed to be crying.

"The others- they're waking up!"

...perhaps this is the break they'd been looking for.


	2. Chapter 1

Fourty seven.

Out of the initial fifty, only forty seven survived and were put into cyro-stasis. Each of them had a fifty percent chance of survival. 

So it made sense that twenty three would survive. Well, technically twenty four, but...

Exhaling, Anabiel sat up in her bed, dreading the day as usual. 

First and foremost: she didn't sleep well. Ever. Didn't get it checked out either, that was on her. But the fact that all Masters in training had to wake up early was especially a pain in the ass for her.

Secondly: rigorous training. Fujimara felt the need to have them build up to being able to run and such, as he wished he could have done that during singularities for longer spurts instead of forcing the Servants to wait for him. He also suggested hand to hand combat, as that was an easy way to deal with people who were essentially muggers. That didn't even include the magic exercises they had to do. All of that together left people drained. 

Third: the food was shit. Good for you, yes. Good tasting? No.

And finally, people in general. She seldom would admit she hated people, as some here were children, but a few she loathed because...

Sighing again, Anabiel scooted from her bed and glanced at the mirrour that was in every Master's room- she saw her fiery hair, her icy eyes, but most importantly, she saw her twin.

The twin people had started saying she killed.

Looking away, she pulled on the black shorts she wore in lieu of the skirt, followed by the thigh high stockings and her black boots. She pulled her complex shirt on, attaching the straps as she'd done for the past month since she'd woken up.

Glancing at the clock, she noted it was about 5:30, leaving a half hour until official breakfast and announcements. Deciding upon an early breakfast, she left her room, locking it as she did so. For some reason, Fujimara wanted locks on the doors when they received all the updates for Chaldea. A lot of people said it was due to his Servant, but Anabiel could understand the sentiment of not wanting people to just randomly go in rooms that didn't belong to them. 

The automatic door for the mess hall opened, and she was greeted with the sight of the other early risers, about five or six in total. Walking over to the people who gave out breakfast, she raised an eyebrow at the fact that the usually bland oatmeal had cinnamon in it for once. There was a meaning to it, but she struggled to remember as she took an apple for her one fruit allowed, and was given a milk carton. 

"Thank you," she told them as always, and getting smiles in return. 

"I was serious though Luka, we should have a concert at some point- like a celebration thing for Fujimara-san and Mashu to enjoy!" The voice came from a tall, bronze skinned woman with green eyes and white hair. Her name was Katarzyna, though she preferred to go by Zyna, and she was probably the closest thing Anabiel had to a friend. 

"I don't think that would turn out well," replied the equally as tall pale pinkette with pale lavender eyes- sometimes confused for Mashu's sister, despite the two of them holding no relation. They do talk often, so sometimes Anabiel wonders if there's some sort of relation there. 

"Oh, hiya Anabiel!" Zyna chirped, a sunny smile greeting her as she sat down. "Sleep well?" 

"Not particularly," she replied quietly, beginning to eat her oatmeal slowly. The one thing she liked most about these two is that they never forced her to do anything- that was part of the reason she actually enjoyed their company. They were respectable people. 

"So about that concert idea, will you at least practice with me once?" Zyna asked, attention back on Luka. 

"I'll think about it," she hummed in reply, getting a small, hyper squeal from Katarzyna.

"Hey Luka," Anabiel started, looking up from her food to make sure the other was listening before continuing, "what was the significance of the cinnamon again?" 

"Today Fujimara and Mashu leave for a mission, so they added cinnamon as a form of good luck wish, and to remind us since Fujimara hates it being announced every time they go," Luka explained before taking a bite of her own.

"It's nice of the kitchen staff to do that to everyone's," Zyna added. "Think it's to keep morale high?"

"Probably," Anabiel agreed, "and thank you for explaining again, Luka." 

The pinkette simply waved it off with a smile, and they finished eating in a comfortable silence.

When the others trickled in, Anabiel averted her gaze from the two girls who had started the rumour. Their names were Emmy and Idun, as it was hard to forget the names of people who tormented you. Those two specifically stuck together, but had gained a lot of rapport with the other Masters, which left so few to actually defend Anabiel.

"You should stop giving them that power," Luka mused, drawing Anabiel from her thoughts. 

"What do you mean?" she asked before taking a sip of her milk.

"They only pick on you because you let them," the pinkette replied. "There's a boy, one from a set of triplets. He's the only one alive, and they don't pick on him."

"They never picked on him though," Zyna cut in. "See, he's like rank forty something, while you're rank thirteen. They're able to pick on you cause they have a bogus reason that gets people emotional, and do it because they're jealous that you're above them in rank."

Ah yes, the ranking system. 

The higher someone is on the list, the better their compatibility to be a Master is. The higher ones come from the older families, and the newer families were lower. However, what Zyna said made sense. Anabiel was part of a set of twins- and most multiples from the same family were lower on the list due to their magic crest being passed to someone that wasn't them, or not at all because the family didn't want to choose, and so their Master compatibility was deemed to be lower. So those two girls, only children from their respective families, had reason to be jealous, at least in their eyes.

But Fujimara was dead last, but that didn't stop him, so the ranking list was essentially obsolete now. Seemed they didn't get the memo. 

"Hey Anabiel, didja hear that?" Zyna's voice dragged her from her thoughts once more, and Anabiel shook her head.

"It's obstacle course day today," Luka supplied, giggling when Zyna stuck her tongue out, her fun having been ruined. 

"Last time didn't go so well for me, remember?" Anabiel replied with a sigh.

"Maybe not the aftermath, but you still hold the record time," Zyna hummed with a rather devious grin. "You really showed them you deserved that rank." 

"Whatever," Anabiel sighed, hating whenever the conversation derailed to ranks. Pushing her food between the girls, she waved goodbye to the two over her shoulder and went to use the bathroom.

As she washed her hands, she heard the door open. Silently cursing that all restrooms were public, she turned off the water as she recognized the hairstyles before the girls themselves.

"Well, lookie what we have here," Emmy hummed as Idun stood next to the door.

"I'm just washing my hands," Anabiel stated calmly, as non-confrontational as possible, since she was already tired of these people. 

"Trying to get your twin's blood off still?" Idun snickered at her friend's jibe, while Anabiel simply stared blankly back. 

"What do you want this time?" 

"I don't particularly want anything from a murderer," Emmy mused as she got chest to chest with Anabiel. "However, a little birdie told me something bad would happen if you came to practice today." 

Last time...information like that was issued, another girl Anabiel occasionally talked to was sent to infirmary for a broken leg after she 'fell downstairs'. She wasn't willing to take that bet again. 

"Fine," she replied curtly, folding her arms as she did so. "Though I don't know how you expect me to just not appear to a mandatory lesson."

"Oh, we'll take care of that," Idun piped in, walking forward as Emmy backed away. "We'll just tell them you were a little sick and needed to rest." Though Idun smiled sweetly, her actions were far from that as she punched Anabiel in the stomach, causing her to kneel on the ground while she where she'd been punched with a mildly magically reinforced punch.

"I'm sure that with your past, people will believe us," Emmy continued. "All you'll need to do is stay put, and we'll get you later." 

The intercom let out a harsh beep, then gave it's message: "For those who would like to see the rayshift, you have five minutes to get to the observation area. I repeat, for those who wish to see the rayshift, you have five minutes to get to the observation area. Training is still occurring in ten minutes, and everyone must be present in the training area at that time. Thank you, and have a nice day."

"Well, seems we gotta get going. Tata for now!" Emmy chirped, a giggling Idun following behind.

Anabiel let go of the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, then finally coughed from the force of the punch. Stubbornly, she had held it in to prevent them from getting the satisfaction of seeing her in pain, leaving it to hurt more when the coughing occured. Using the sink as leverage, she pulled herself to her feet.

Even if she wasn't going to tempt fate by appearing in class, she still needed to leave the bathroom as there was no way in hell she would stay in there to wait for their return.

Slowly making her way down the hall, she fully intended to return to her room to wait these events out.

The sound of approaching Chaldea workers who would just force her to the proper place caused her to grit her teeth. She needed a place to hide, and quickly. Glancing behind her, the bathroom was too far away. There was a door up on her left though, which would suffice for the few minutes she'd need to hide. 

The door opened slowly, especially when compared to other doors, and closed just as slowly. Due to that, Anabiel stumbled around in the dimly lit room, attempting to find a place to hide in case they had caught the door closing. The best she could do was crouch on the opposite side of the room, staring at the door and hoping, no, praying, it didn't open. 

She bitterly thought of how much easier this would be if she had someone who she could trust by her side. Hell, her bloody bully had one. 

"Perhaps something like that isn't for someone like me," she mumbled aloud. 

"Rayshift imminent. Stand by in case of potential temporary power loss." The announcement scared Anabiel, causing her to move far too quickly and her stomach to ache. She was definitely bruised. 

If she was being honest with herself, she especially hated when rayshifting occurred. It kind of scared her, being in the dark like that suddenly, as almost always the power went out for a minute or two. Reminded her of just how small and lonely she really was. 

"I wish I wasn't like this," she said forlornly as Chaldea began to hum around her, the telltale sign of the rayshifting starting.

What was new to her was the fact that a small light appeared in the middle of the room.

Shit, was she in a generator room? No, this wasn't the right wing for it...

The light descended to the floor, causing a symbol to appear. Anabiel couldn't place it, but backed up as pillars of lights rose from it, immediately distrustful of it. Her back was to the wall as those pillars began to spin, the speed increasing until they became rings. The light spun faster, got brighter, until it dispersed in a flash, a beam now in the middle. 

From the center of the circle, something- no, someone began to form from the ground up, golden armour adorning their legs, their chest, their arms. Underneath that was a dark coloured suit of sorts, and pale skin that was only seen when the neck formed. Behind their shoulders was a small pink fluff, which appeared before their head. A strong jawline and sharp facial features were next to form, curtained by spiky yet soft looking white hair. 

When their- no, his eyes opened, a piercing icy blue gaze met Anabiel's, and he tilted his head as his golden earring formed, making a slight noise as it did so.

"Servant, Lancer. True name, Karna. Nice to meet you," he greeted, his smooth voice calming Anabiel. He stepped forth after taking in the situation for a moment, the circle disappearing as he did so, and outstretched his hand to her.

"Come Master," he said, "let me help you." 

Without hesitation, Anabiel took his hand.


	3. Chapter 2

"Hey Luka, where's Anabiel?" Zyna asked her friend quietly. The other girl shrugged.

"Anabiel said she was feeling sick and couldn't make it," an annoying voice they knew too well spoke up. "Fits, doesn't it?"

"Even so Emmy," the instructor sighed, ignoring her last comment, "her record still stands."

Zyna and a few others laughed at Emmy's angered face, causing her to splutter about for a bit.

"That's not fair!" she cried out.

"Get over yourself," Luka sighed.

xxxxx

"So that is the full situation?" Karna, _her Servant_ , asked. Anabiel nodded. "I see." 

Anabiel traced the command seals on her right hand with her left, still surprised at the outcome herself. Last she heard, the summoning room wasn't working at all, which is why no one had been pulled to try summoning, and yet...ah, she'd think about it later. She had to deal with hiding a Servant she wasn't supposed to have.

"Karna, I have a request for you," she said, looking back at him. Even though she wasn't sitting anymore, she still had to tilt her head to look at him, and she cursed her height.

"What is it, Master?" he asked rather...obediently.

"Actually, make that two," she sighed. "One, please refer to me by my name instead of Master."

"As you wish, Anabiel," he amended, bowing his head. "Apologies."

"It's fine," she replied. "And two...well, are you able to properly stay in spirit form with me as your Master?" 

"Yes. I am also able to use my abilities to their fullest extent, should the need arise. You are a suitable Master for me," he replied simply. 

"Then the second request is that you remain in spirit form when not in my room." As response to that, he dematerialized. She smiled slightly at that.

'Am I to assume you want me to follow you around then?' he asked, though his voice was now in her head. She'd forgotten about that.

'If you don't mind, yes,' she replied hesitantly, not entirely sure how the whole mental link worked.

'Lead the way, Anabiel.' Taking that as a sign he'd follow, she opened the door, peering out both ways before leaving, acutely aware of Karna following her. It had taken her longer than usual to get back, and she locked the door once she could feel Karna inside the room with her. He rematerialized, and looked to be studying her. 

"I apologize if this is offensive, but are you crippled?" he asked rather bluntly- but still kindly. 

"Those girls I told you about, one bruised my stomach," she explained. "It just hurts to walk for now."

"I see. Will you not heal it?" he asked curiously, watching her as she sat down.

"If I heal every minour injury, there's a good chance I might not be able to deal with the pain when I can't," she replied, gently rubbing her stomach. He nodded his understanding. "Ah, you can sit as well if you wish," Anabiel added, patting the bed next to her. 

"Thank you," he said, sitting down once she removed her hand. "I also meant to ask- what is the point of me being in spirit form if the other Masters can sense me?"

"They might not be able to. No one can sense Da Vinci when she sneaks up, and she lacks a presence concealment. Until they actually sit and hone that skill, you'll be a secret," she explained. 

"Do you not plan on telling those you are friendly with?"

"No. At least, not yet. I'm not sure if they would take you away, as technically no one was supposed to summon anything."

"That is understandable. When will we next be leaving the room?" 

"About an hour or so. Why?" She looked away from her stomach, their eyes meeting.

"You seem tired, Anabiel. It would be most beneficial for you to rest until then," he replied simply. 

"I...I'll try," she replied, looking away from his rather intense gaze. "Will you sit on the bed still?" 

"If that is what you wish, then yes," he replied, though he scooted more towards the foot.

"Thank you," she told him with a small smile before laying back and attempting to nap. 

xxxxx

Anabiel awoke to a warm hand on her shoulder, and a finger to her lips. Blinking, she gathered her bearings as she was allowed to sit up.

'We have company,' Karna's voice rang through her head, and she zoned in on the knocking. Slowly sliding from the bed, she pulled her sleeves down to cover her hands before she walked over to the door and unlocked it after Karna dematerialized. 

She was met with a very upset Zyna, and a mildly amused Luka. 

"Why weren't you at practice?" the former huffed. 

"My stomach hurts." It wasn't the entire truth, but it wasn't a lie. 

"I think that's a load of-" she started, but Luka cut her off. 

"She actually looks like she's in pain. Are you on your period?" Luka asked without batting an eye.

"No, I was cornered and sucker-punched in the bathroom," Anabiel replied, stepping out of her room, allowing the door to close once she felt Karna was in the hallway.

"I don't care about your stance on injuries, I'm healing you," Zyna pouted as Anabiel locked her door. She winced when her friends' hands made contact with her stomach, but it went away after a moment.

"There, all done," Zyna chirped, taking her hands back to link elbows with both girls. "To food!" 

Anabiel sighed, but allowed herself to be led as Zyna complained about the bully duo. 

...though Zyna completely forget about them as they entered the room and saw the injured girl at their table. After the three got their food, they joined her.

"Crest, right?" Anabiel asked once everyone got situated. She had her long, dark purple hair up in a high ponytail with a few strands framing her face, and hazel eyes.

"You do remember my name!" Crest grinned. "Great, I was starting to think everyone forgot me. But anyway, I just want to let you know, I don't blame you for those girls. They kept saying it was your fault they had to do that, but I don't buy their bullshit."

"Thank you. I'm glad you're feeling better," she replied. 

"Wait so they actually broke your leg?" Zyna asked, frowning slightly.

"As if I'd fall down stairs and break my leg," Crest scoffed. 

"You mean the only two stairs in this entire place?" Luka added with an amused eyebrow raise. 

"Exactly," Crest laughed, Zyna joining in. Even Luka giggled a bit.

Anabiel, on the other hand, was picking at her food absentmindedly.

'Anabiel, you should really eat that instead of playing with it.' There was a twinge of amusement in his voice, and she smiled a bit. Taking a bite of the rather bland spaghetti Chaldea offered, she chewed thoughtfully while discreetly looking around the lunchroom.

'Karna, see those two blonde girls sitting with all the boys?' she asked once she saw them, taking another bite.

'I take it those are the girls who pick on you and broke Crest's leg?' he asked, a little bit of hate detectable in his voice.

'Yeah. Just keep an eye out for them, please.'

'Of course.' 

"Anabiel, we've got about ten minutes before the magecraft portion of the day. Do you think you'll be ready for that?" Luka asked after a nudge to get her attention. 

"Yeah. Just can't be left alone anymore it seems," she replied quietly. 

"Well, at least these two are getting along," Luka mused with a half grin, looking at Zyna and Crest, who had gone to dump all the garbage in the bin together. 

"Yeah," Anabiel agreed. 

"C'mon, let's go!" Crest said, snapping her fingers. "We gotta beat those girls there!"

"Coming," Luka sighed, standing and following the two other girls, Anabiel in tow.

xxxxx

"About the different types of magecraft," their teacher of sorts, Dr. Green, was saying, "some are natrually stronger than others, while some you need to work at to perfect. Reinforcement, for example, is one of the weakest overall, whereas rune magic is one of the strongest, along with being one of the oldest. Others are dependent upon outside factours. Gem magic, for instance, is very user based, not magic circuit based. In order to craft more powerful gems, many things have to be available to the magus that aren't available to all." He had written a few more notes on the board, simply naming a few of the various types. 

"I know that a few of you already have your designated type you've specialized in due to your families, along with some of you attempting to show off."

Snickering resounded through the walls as heads turned towards Emmy. She was from a reinforcement magus family, and had tried to show off by having a reinforced lunch tray block a kick from...well, it made a lot of sense now, Anabiel mused, glancing over to the smug Crest. 

"Now, I'm going to go down the list of lot of you, and have you give a demonstration of your preferred magic, now that we've covered just about everything that can be talked about. Everyone, come to this end of the room, and when I call your name, go over to the other side and show us what you've got." 

The sound of chairs being pushed back filled the room, mild chatter amongst the Masters as they clumped together in the front, still in their own cliques of sorts.

"I don't know why I bothered walking over here," Luka sighed as the four girls regrouped.

"Gee, thanks," Crest huffed. 

"Oh, Crest," Zyna started only to be cut off by Mr. Green.

"Luka Longinus," he called, causing Luka to simply turn on her heel and head to the designated area. She cast off a few gems, but only the small ones. Anabiel figured she had to save as many as possible, since they were rather hard to come by in Chaldea. 

"Jewel magic," Dr. Green mused. "Nice."

As Luka returned, Crest mumbled an apology.

"Don't worry about it," she smiled. "I prefer people don't know that I'm the highest on the list, though I suppose that's gone now." 

Anabiel drifted into her thoughts, leaning against the wall as the girls had formed their group further from the others. 

'What troubles you?' Karna's voice caused her to jump a bit. 

"Hey, you okay?" Zyna asked.

"Yeah, just a bit tired," Anabiel replied, yawning a bit to prove a point.

"Oof," Crest winced sympathetically. 

'Things keep happening that make me a...great target to be picked on,' Anabiel replied to Karna, sighing inwardly. 

'What do you mean?' he asked, the curiosity in his voice ever noticeable. 

'You'll see,' she replied with a slight smile.

"Woah, are you smiling?" Zyna asked teasingly, pressing her fingers into the corners of Anabiel's lips and bringing them up. "I didn't think you could do that!"

"Well everyone knows-" Emmy started, her bitch sense tingling, before Dr. Green cleared his throat.

"If you say what I think you're about to, I will kick you out. I've told you many times that I don't condone what you do, nor will I sit by and let it happen. So shut up or get out," he told her, a smile on his face but his words dripping venom.

More snickers, along with a relieved sigh from Anabiel. She enjoyed this teacher, as he didn't allow people to be unnecessarily rude. 

"Well, now that that's settled," he continued, moving down the list. 

"Maybe Dr. Green should teach all the classes," Crest mumbled. 

"I could agree with that," Luka mused. Zyna nodded, as did Anabiel.

'There is a remarkable difference of skill between these people,' Karna mused.

'Some families trained their kids, some didn't,' Anabiel replied, shifting her gaze back to the guy who was using an ice based magic type that she couldn't really place. It didn't necessarily matter if she knew the name or not, as they were on the same side. 

'Did your family train you?' he asked. Raising a hand to her mouth, she faked a sneeze, where in reality she snorted.

"Bless you," Crest said reflexively.

"Thank you," Anabiel replied aloud before answering her Servant. 'No, I was the very last child they cared about, so I trained myself.'

'I see,' he mused, a thoughtful hum resounding through her mind. 'What did you study?'

'You'll see,' she repeated.

"Okay, so two ice affinities," Dr. Green mumbled to himself, writing some stuff down. "Next is Anabiel Mordax."

"Wait-"

"I said shut up or get out," he cut off Emmy once more. "We do not comment on family names, you know this. Humanity's salvation is far more important than any bias you have against one."

"Yeah, but now she's the last one!"

"Get out," he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose after moving his glasses. 

"But-"

"Out." One of the boys of the class snapped into action, grabbing Emmy by the arm and dragging her to the door.

"Thank you, Tyler," Dr. Green sighed. "Anyone else want to leave? Now's the time." Idun huffed and left, but the rest stayed. "To all of you here, you're the smart ones and I can't wait to see you flourish." Putting his glasses back on, he waved Anabiel forward. Nodding, she went forward, pausing to think of how she'd go about doing this. Quickly deciding she'd show off for the two girls that peered through the window, she walked as far back to the room as possible before preforming a few front flips forward, concentrating especially when her hands hit the ground. 

When she finished, she walked back to her spot to the laughing of the girls outside- which was silenced by the mini explosions of sorts that occurred where she placed her hands.

"I can make them bigger, but this is a confined space and that would be a bad idea," she explained. 

"Fire runes, eh?" Dr. Green smiled. "Impressive." 

Bowing her head, she returned to leaning against the wall. 

"Well shit," Crest whistled. "All without a magic crest too, huh?" Another nod.

'Those girls are glaring daggers at you,' a mildly amused Karna stated.

'Good.'

xxxxx

After having gone through all of the people, Dr. Green released them early. Except Emmy and Idun, who he tasked with cleaning the room up. Probably why he let them go early, Anabiel mused to herself as the rest of the Masters headed to the mess hall to mess around there for a bit before dinner. 

"Favourite dude, hands down," Crest said, propping her feet up on the table.

"He isn't afraid of confrontation," Luka replied, nudging the other girls' feet off the table. "We still eat here."

"Sorry mom," Crest replied, sticking her tongue out a bit.

"Hey, how come you never said you used runes?" Zyna asked. "You could've totally used them against those girls!"

"They're louder than me, so everyone would be more inclined to believe regardless," Anabiel sighed. 

"She has a point," Luka hummed. "As for the rune thing, I can relate. We don't want everyone knowing everything about us, right?"

"Yeah," Anabiel agreed.

'Those girls are approaching with a bucket of water,' Karna alerted her.

'Thank you for the warning, Karna.' Sighing, Anabiel stood and faced them, placing a hand on the bucket right before they could tip it.

"Ooh, what's that?" Zyna asked, standing and peering over Anabiel's shoulder. "Wow, that's cold." Grinning, she tapped a finger to the surface of it, causing the entire thing to freeze. 

"Bitch," Emmy snarled, now having trouble holding the bucket with Idun. They placed it down, not doing anything else as now people were watching, and slinking away instead. 

Being alone was sadly not an option for Anabiel anymore, it seemed, Servant or not.

"Food!" Crest called out, bringing everyone's attention to dinner. 

Cheers of hungry children resounded through the hall, prefacing the rush that was soon to follow.


	4. Chapter 3

After dinner, Anabiel retreated to her room quickly, triple checking that she locked the door behind her before allowing Karna to materialize. Turning the lights on, she exhaled.

"Are they always so childish?" he asked, not needing to name names for her to know who he was talking about.

"Yes," she groaned before sitting down, closing her eyes for a moment to think.

"What is it?" The clink of his earring alerted her that he had tilted his head. Opening her eyes, she saw she had been correct, though he also had his arms folded and was leaning against the wall. 

"I'm sorry," she sighed.

"Don't be. I was summoned by you for a reason, and that needs not an apology," he stated.

"I mean for you having to hide," she amended. 

"Ah. No need for that either, after seeing what you go through on a regular basis," he replied. Was he always so calm and understanding? "However, am I to assume that I will be hiding forever?" 

"Ah, no. When Fujimara and his Servant return, I plan on talking to them about you. They are the most knowledgeable here on this matter," she explained. 

"What of the Da Vinci one you mentioned?" His interest in wanting to be seen was rather...interesting to her.

"She's...crafty and hard to get actual information from. Not to mention she technically doesn't have a Master." 

"I see," he hummed before falling silent for a pensive moment. "When will the Master and Servant return?"

"At best, three days."

"At worst?"

"A month." He sighed at her answer, then moved to sit down next to her.

"If the worst is the case, then this will be trying," he muttered.

"How so?" Anabiel asked, adjusting her body to face him.

"Even if your reasons for not confronting them are sound, it still bothers me to see my Master treated the way you are," he replied, turning his head to meet her gaze. "It is not right. You are a good person." 

Anabiel paused at his last comment. Out of all the things she's been called, a good person was not one. She didn't protest, as something she'd done was enough to convince him, so she'd leave that be for now.

"Thank you, Karna," she mumbled instead. 

"For what?" he asked, the head tilt back. "All I did was state the truth."

She shook her head. "Nevermind." 

He nodded, satisfied with not pressing on. 

"If you have nothing that needs to be discussed right now, I suggest you go to sleep," he said, changing the subject. 

"I wanted to ask more about you, as suddenly searching for your name would give off red flags," Anabiel replied as she watched him stand.

"That can wait. You are exhausted, and need the sleep, as your schedule says you must arise early," he told her, easily pulling the sheets out from under her, motioning for her to get into bed. 

"You...you'll stay though, yeah?" she asked quietly, looking down now. 

"Yeah," he responded with her own word as an affirmative. That made her smile slightly, the modern language heard in such a refined voice.

"Alright," she agreed to his terms, kicking her boots off before laying down. Karna brought the covers up for her, then looked for the switch she had pressed to turn the lights on.

By the time he found it, Anabiel was already asleep.

xxxxx

Anabiel was awoken by Karna gently shaking her awake, a look of slight worry on his face, which faded as she stirred. Or prehaps she imagined it.

"What is it?" she asked tiredly, her body feeling weak.

"You were tossing and turning in your sleep, mumbling incoherently. Are you alright?" he asked. He must've been kneeling by her side for him to be on roughly the same level as her, since she could see his face in the dark. 

"I...have nightmares, and don't sleep well," she admitted quietly. 

"You slept well earlier," he pointed out. 

"That's because you were close enough for my subconscious to be reassured, or however that nurse worded it," she mumbled as she struggled to remember things. "Usually I wake up screaming, amongst other things, so thank you for waking me up." Yawning, she tried to sit up, but was met with his arm pushing her back down. "What? What time is it, anyway?" she asked, striving to change the topic.

"That is irrelevant," he gently chided, his armour clinking, signalling he was moving. The foot of her bed dipped under his weight, causing Anabiel to move her legs a bit. "You need your rest. If I must sit here all night so that you may, then I will." 

"You're more stubborn than I am," she mumbled, turning to her side.

"Only when it comes to your welfare. Sustaining me is a massive drain, and so you must be at peak condition to keep me here," he replied. "Now, sleep."

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled, though she found herself smiled slightly as she drifted back off to sleep. 

xxxxx

The second time she woke up due to Karna shaking her was due to a very different reason.

"What now?" Anabiel mumbled as she sat up, causing him to back up.

"A loud noise came from a device but you did not stir," he explained, pointing to her alarm clock. "I figured it was designed to wake you, and so I let it ring, but you stayed asleep."

"Probably because that's the first time I've slept through the night since I was five," she replied, swinging her legs off the bed. 

"...are you alright, Anabiel?" Karna asked, the concern in his voice evident at her comment. 

"I'm fine, just some stuff won't stay in the past, is all. Now, could you turn away, I need to change," she huffed as she stood, grabbing new clothes from her drawers.

He responded by turning around and allowing her to dress. As she finished, she pulled on the sleeves of her shirt, stretching them both down to the same length so that her command seals would be covered and not look suspicious.

"Alright, all done," she declared, pulling her boots on as Karna turned around. "What time is it?" she asked, turning to glance at the clock. 

No breakfast for her, as it was 06:50, leaving ten minutes for her to get to the gym. 

"Damnit," she swore as Karna went into spirit form. Leaving and locking her room, she walked as quickly as she could while preserving energy. 

Three minutes to the start of the session, Anabiel walked out and stood by Zyna, Luka, and Crest.

"Oh hey, Anabiel," Crest greeted. "Finally get some sleep?"

"I actually overslept," Anabiel admitted.

"So no sleep or oversleep, no in between?" Luka asked.

"It seems that way," the redhead sighed. 

"We've grown one more though, so that's gotta make up for it," Zyna grinned, draping an arm around Crest's shoulder.

"In a way," Anabiel mused. 

"Alright! Listen up, kiddos!" Mr. Lambartoni called out. "Today's the day we test out how much you've grown."

Groans were heard throughout the gym, echoing back to them.

'What's going on?' Karna asked.

'It's endurance day,' Anabiel replied simply.

"You know what that means! Line up!" The complains didn't stop, but everyone followed orders.

'Endurance day? What are you testing your endurance of?' he asked, his presence still by her side. 

'How long we can run for,' she answered, getting into line a bit further from the rest. Zyna and Luka seemed to be giving Crest the rundown of how she liked to do things alone.

'Will you premit me to run alongside you?' It was a strange request, given he was a Heroic Spirit and all.

'If you want,' she replied after a moment. 'May I ask why?'

'I would like to see what pace I would need to run beside you, and how long you can last,' he said simply, his voice seeming like he shrugged. 

"Your minimum for this session should be in the ballpark of twenty minutes!" Mr. Lambortoni informed the group, which was followed by more groans.

"Go!" he said, a loud beep playing to start them off. 

As to be expected, different people had different paces.

Zyna and Luka, being some of the tallest there, were out front, their long legs giving them an advantage.

Crest had fallen behind, as she'd been in the infirmary wing for a bit for her broken bone to heal, and running was a bit new to her, in a sense. Wouldn't stop her from trying though.

Anabiel specifically didn't seek out Emmy and Idun, nor did she want to. Instead, she focused on keeping her breathing even. She could feel Karna next to her, the man having no trouble keeping up. 

About halfway through, Karna's mood soured.

'What is it?' she asked, tilting her head slightly towards him.

'Those two girls are trying to mess with Crest,' he replied, the disdain evident in his voice. Getting an idea, Anabiel found herself smiling wickedly, and sought to fix that before replying to Karna.

'It'd be a shame if they were to fall before they could, wouldn't it?' she asked nonchalantly.

'It would,' Karna agreed. When he disappeared from her side, she knew he caught onto her drift, which was accentuated by the screaming of the two girls as they hit the ground. 

"We tripped over something!" Emmy was saying- as the rule was once you fell, you were out and would have to try again on their one free day.

"I don't see anything there!" the teacher replied, pointing at the blank ground, snickers galore as Karna returned to her side.

'That was an oddly satisfying thing to do,' he informed her. She merely shook her head and kept on running. 

'How long does this go on for?' he asked a few minutes later.

'Until the last person gives up, as long as it's within the hour,' she replied. 'I think he'll cut us off at fifty minutes, but no one's been that far yet.'

'Who holds the record?'

'Zyna, at twenty two minutes when we had to do fifteen.'

'Your friends are talented and good people,' he praised. 'You should cherish them.'

'I try,' she replied, though her voice sounded quiet even in her head, and they fell into a comfortable silence. 

At twenty five minutes, Anabiel chose to sit down next to Crest, who clocked out at fifteen minutes.

"For laying around for a week, I did good," she boasted as she tossed a water bottle to Anabiel.

"Thank you," she replied, opening it and taking a swig.

"At least you could get close," the boy to Crest's right sighed. "I only got ten."

Anabiel tilted her head at the boy, and Crest facepalmed.

"That's right, you've never met Tyler. He's a childhood friend of sorts, and was sick with a stomach bug for the past few days," she explained.

"If someone dares you try to a special surprise, don't do it. No matter what the cost is, don't do it," Tyler told them.

"I'll keep that in mind," Anabiel mused.

"Oh, Ty, this is Anabiel," Crest introduced. He offered a hand to her, but Anabiel merely nodded. "She's not a very physical person."

"With the amount of trickery that goes on around here, I can't say I blame her," he agreed, returning his arms to the folded position.

"Yeah, trickery," Crest scoffed, the sarcasm heavier than the air that lacked conditioning. The three fell into a rather content silence though, which Anabiel noted. It was nice to find people that were unlike Zyna. Speaking of...

"Do you think Zyna can run for far longer but stops at repeated digits because she can?" she dared to ask.

"I only heard the last part of that," Luka panted slightly as she joined them, her time being twenty eight minutes, "but if it's about Zyna, yes."

"So she's more athletic than she lets on?" Tyler asked cautiously, which caused Crest to launch into more introductions.

Anabiel tuned her out, choosing to scope out the abilities of the other Master potentials. Only six remained- no, five, as the other single survivor from a multi-sibling trio, Kowaru, stopped. 

She bitterly noted how he was ignored by Emmy and Idun, despite having similar circumstances as her.

'Do you hate that boy?' 

She forgot about Karna for a minute. 'No. Just...envy him.'

'Is he similar to you?' he asked, the curiousity in his voice undeniable.

'He's the only survivor of a set of triplets,' she replied, choosing to leave it at that. Thankfully he caught on.

As the others trickled off the track, only a quiet girl, Miyuki, if she remembered correctly, and Zyna remained. 

Miyuki got picked on as well though. Prehaps she should...no. Anabiel hated the thought of reaching out to others. The only reason she knew people was Zyna, who thought it'd be great to know someone whose name started with A just because her nickname started with Z. 

Sighing, Anabiel tilted her head back and closed her eyes as she waited for the others to finish running.

'It seems to be calm here, compared to what has been supplied to me of the world outside,' Karna stated. 'You have designated things to do, and all under a promising cause. Yet I sense a mild...discomfort from everyone. Why is that?'

'It's been about a month since most of us have woken up, and even though the routine is nice, it's boring. Probably why a few have resorted to picking on people,' she replied, cracking an eye open to watch Crest and Tyler interact. She guessed they made a few inside jokes while in the infirmary wing, seeing as they were snickering about something and Luka looked lost.

'If they really resort to picking on people for amusement, why are they still allowed in this program?'

'Desperate times call for desperate measures,' Anabiel mused as the last of their group made her way over, having clocked out at 33 minutes. 

"Huh, repeated digits," Crest mumbled while Zyna flopped to the ground.

"Anabiel, you should train with me in your free period so I don't have to run alone," she pouted jokingly, giving Luka a look. The pinkette scoffed back, a smile on her face. 

"I'll think about it," Anabiel replied carefully after a moment, gaining looks of mild shock from the others. Nothing was said as Miyuki clocked out at 35 minutes, causing Mr. Lambortoni to activate the beep to end the session.

"Protocol says that I can't do anything with you for the rest of my allotted time when we do endurance days, so I'm letting most of you go," he spoke, his loud voice projecting through the room without him yelling. Glancing at his clipboard, he continued, "Emmy, Idun, Crest, and Tyler, I need to talk with you about some things, so you can't leave just yet. Everyone else, you're free to go."

Everyone perked up at that, and began scrambling to the exit. Free time was almost nonexistent in Chaldea, so the thought of having almost twenty minutes to do what they wanted put the life back into the entire class.

Zyna grabbed Anabiel by the elbow and began dragging her out, though she spared Crest and Tyler a smile as the two waved goodbye. Anabiel returned theirs with one of her own, allowing herself to be dragged. 

"What are we even going to do?" The redhead asked, glancing back to see Luka easily catching up.

"Dunno yet, but something!" Zyna chirped, throwing a smile over her shoulder. 

"Hopefully you'll let us shower first," Luka hummed, gaining a nod from the white haired girl.

They were the last to be out in the hallway, as it seemed the others simply bolted for whatever they were going to do.

'Anabiel, I sense-'

"Why is it when something happens, it's always you three?


End file.
